Weddings

On Saturday, we put on our nicest summer clothes and attended the wedding ceremony of our friends Caroline and Piero. The civic ceremony took place in Castello Orsini in the small hill town of Sant Angelo Romano just north of Rome. It was our first Italian wedding. Although Caroline is English, Piero is Italian and there was a mix of different cultures - the majority of the friends and family were Italian. We have missed two other opportunities to witness friends getting married - Mimmo and Simona and Elena and Mauro - because they got married in the summer - a time of year when we are usually away.

Everyone tried to squeeze into the small receiving room where the ceremony was taking place, but I didn't bother - it felt too much like a crowded Roman subway or bus and I opted myself out as well as Giulia and Paloma who were extremely disappointed to miss it, but who only had an eye view of others people's bottoms. Instead we waited in the courtyard with other guests who also didn't want to play sardine and waited. Finally Caroline and Piero came out and here is my one and only photograph of the happy couple before my battery ran out.

Afterwards we had the typical Italian wedding meal - food, food and more food. Antipasti, two primi, two secondi, contorni and lots of wine and then the wedding cake. We paced ourselves though. Years ago so much food would have overwhelmed us, but now we take it in our stride and know to pass on most things. It was a long and hot day for a 7 year old, 5 year old and 17 month old, but we had a great time. The bride and groom were pictures of serenity and calm and the girls enjoyed seeing Miss Caroline (now Mrs. Caroline) in her fairy tale wedding dress. It was truly a pleasure to be a part of it.

Steve and I celebrate our 9th wedding anniversary today, but in many respects it's a day like any other to us. We have never really gone all out to celebrate and many anniversaries have passed by uneventfully. Our relationship pre-dates our wedding day and so when people ask how long we have been married - those years don't mean as much as the fact that we have actually known each other and in turns been together and not been together for a grand total of 17 years now.

We had planned to go to our favorite restaurant tonight - Trattoria Monti - but it's closed because of "technical problems". And last night I got a total of 3 hours sleep thanks to a dreadful combination of insomnia and Viola crying herself awake every hour. I managed to squeeze in a short nap, but the evening is still uncertain.

Perhaps this sounds unromantic, but we save the romance for other occasions - birthdays and Valentine's Day are big days for us. Past gifts have been surprise trips to Paris, Venice, Morocco and for my 40th last year Steve threw me an amazing party and in conjunction with our best friend, Chris wrote (Steve) and illustrated (Chris) a book in the style of Dr. Seuss called "So You're Turning 40". It is now one of my most treasured possessions.

So today on the day of our wedding anniversary - I reflect - all the things that Steve means to me and our relationship together. All that we have been through and will continue to go through together. He's given me 3 beautiful children and everytime I look at them I send a thank you to the man who made it all possible. It is bliss 99.9% of the time. He is an indelible part of me - my hands, my eyes, my mind, my heart.